Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Blog post #7 Final Reflections

Reflecting upon my first post, I was already aware of the importance of communication in both my personal and working lives. However, it was through the practical practice of the communication with my team project members that had allowed me to begin to understand and experience the real importance of communication, that communication is not just based on theories but it serves an extremely pratical purpose in our lives.

A lesson that left the deepest impression on me was the one on preparing for an interview by predicting the questions that might be asked during the interview. I remembered that I had an interview for an internship following the lesson and had prepared for the interview using the predicted questions that might be asked during the interview from the skill builders. Surely enough, some of the questions that I had prepared for were asked during the interview. Having the chance to prepare for these questions eventually landed me the opportunity of the internship. Theories of communication are eventually effectual only when placed into practice.

More than mere theory, I believe that communication is a skill, which can be perfected only through practise and nothing less. From this module, I had the chance to learn and practise on some of the communication skills that are valuable and would accompany me for the rest of my life. Marketing skills of trying to convince the audience into accepting our proposal during the oral presentation, skills of giving the correct non-verbal cues during presentation or team meeting to the appropriate audience, and skills of writing appropriately by praising others before asking for their help will all be functional to me in future.

Besides that charismatic few who are born communicators, the rest of us will have to constantly hone our communication skills by starting from scratch. As this module ends for all of us, we will be embarking on another whole new beginning on the path of becoming better, more effective communicators as communication is a life long thing.

Last but not least, I would like to thank Ms Goh for your guidance in this project, for the hard work and trouble that you took in vetting all our drafts and presentations. I had really learnt a lot from you in this module.

I would also like to thank my teammates (as tim calls us), Jing yi and Timothy. Although there are times when our opinions differ and things do not work out, I am grateful for the enriching lessons that I have learnt from our team work experience and from the both of you. (Thanks for telling me that handphones can be used as pointers during presentation!)

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About Me

I am currently pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Life Sciences with concentration in Biomedical Science from National University of Singapore. With strong interest in drug research, I aspire to become a drug researcher in the near future, embracing the ambition of discovery of cures for the incurable diseases. I am also passionate about travelling and backpacking, and have been to regional places like Taiwan, Indonesia and others. Travelling not only broadens my horizons, it also motivates me to develop a willingness to embrace differences in people and cultures, and be passionate about life. Volunteering also nurtures my passion for life. I also enjoy music and play the Chinese instrument, Pipa.